Silly Girl
by FallenFromParadise
Summary: A somewhat different alternate ending...  Alice slays the Jabberwocky on Frabjous Day, only to realize she should have sooner slayed herself, now Underland is looking forward to an all out war as the country is stricken with chaos and confusion.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: If you're reading this, then it's obvious that I don't own any version of Alice in Wonderland. HOWEVER: This plot is mine, from the slayed Jabberwocky on (pretty much).

Summery: A somewhat different alternate ending... Alice slays the Jabberwocky on Frabjous Day, only to realize she should have sooner slayed herself.

BE AWARE: Don't assume to know until you know to assume.

* * *

Silly Girl

* * *

Mallymkum shouted in excitement, brandishing her miniature sword as she stuck yet another red card in the foot, allowing the white knight battling it to gain the upper hand. It was a good day for a battle, and what an excellent battle it was! The white side was obviously winning; not a drop of loyal blood touching the ground, an oddity not even common in Underland.

Smirking with that thought she darted between the feet of red and white soldiers alike, occasionally pausing to slash her weapon against shins and ankles of anything red. When she reached the queen she could feel her heart racing from her sprint, but the sound of her rushing blood filling her own ears filled her with jubilation.

However... There was a slight feeling of trepidation, as well. Perhaps it was the way the white queen smirked as she watched Alice fight the Jabberwocky; or maybe it was how tightly she clenched her hands as she stared intently at the dragons neck. Looking, for all the world, as though she looked forward to watching it die.

Another oddity, as all in Underland knew, beyond the inkling of a doubt, that the white queen abhorred any type of violence; and surely that would include slaying of any kind, be it scale or skin. Surly she would at least look away, not appear to be so...

Anticipating?

Frowning, Mallymkun studied the white queen more, standing silent as the battle raged around her, squinting her eyes to analyze the white clad woman. From head to toe, she was clearly who she was supposed to be, not a hair changed. However, from toe to head, there was definitely something not right; because the white queen preferred to wear white, from under garments to outer garments. She'd never known even a stain to have so much disrespect as to touch the white.

Why, then, did the queen's shoes have dark soles?

Looking back up to the queens face she was startled to see a slowly formed grin; not a smile, but a grin. Her eyes burning with an intensity that Mallymkun had only seen shine from behind the knave's eyes. Darting her gaze towards Alice she seen her body landing, the vorpal sword clenched tightly in her hands.

A low malicious chuckle came from where she knew the queen to be, and it all began clicking into place.

"Off with your head!" the dormouse heard her scream before quickly and almost near effortlessly severing the beast's head from it's neck.

* * *

One Week Later

* * *

A spell...

All of the work they'd put into defeating the red queen, merely a cover for the true plan to bring all of Underland to their knees in total and absolute surrender. Had anyone held even the slightest shadow of a hint of what their actions would cause, nobody would have stepped forth to fight on Frabjous Day.

Alice now sat at the black queens feet, sore and bruised from the beating she'd just received after her failed rescue plan to free Mallymkun and Thackery from their cells. The thick leather band around her neck nearly to tight for her to breath as the metal cuff's bound her wrists tightly together, one overlapping the other.

She felt hollow and struggled to remember just what it was about Underland that she had enjoyed so much as a child. It had obviously all been a lie, and had it not been for the little mouse who'd managed to get to her before the cards and knights, she would probably have died a grinning fool. As it was, she'd been saved by Thackery's ridiculous wooden spoon; though when the white (or, rather, black) queen snatched her up for a 'pet', she wasn't to sure she wouldn't have rather died.

She occasionally seen Tarrant, providing hats and the such for the queen and her 'baby sister', though he looked jittery and strained, it hadn't escaped her notice that he was well and unchained. She was sure, even now, he was in his little hattery room, busy sniping and sewing beautiful hats for his rulers.

Even looking at him sickened her; and she felt that she would have thrown up at the sight of him, if it wasn't for the fact that she had precious little food to do that, and getting sick would either result in either her death or another vicious beating.

She wanted to want to go home, however she didn't have it in her to abandon the only two who had tried so desperately to save her. They could have hidden out, yet they ignored their own safety and snuck back into the castle; if it hadn't been for the white rabbit, they might have succeeded in reaching her. As it was, they'd been captured before they could even see the throne room.

She'd been mocked for days after that; nothing but a useless silly little girl, to stupid to save herself and to weak to save her friends. What was worse, was that she couldn't find the will-power to argue against something she knew to be true. Even when she'd managed to pick the lock around her ankle, she'd only made it to the doors before she'd been captured by the hidden guards.

Her attention was suddenly diverted by a sharp jerk from her leash and she found herself obediently looking up at the black queen, her black lips stretched into a vicious smile; "The hatter will be bringing you something new to wear today." Mirana informed her, sounding as warm and generous as when she'd played the white queen. "I'm sure it will look lovely on you; I'm sure a bit of color would do you good, you look rather pale today."

Alice couldn't keep the sneer from her face at her words. Of course she looked pale, she was sure it was because, dispite the chill in the castle, she was wearing nothing but a thin black dress that hardly reached mid-thigh. The sleeves were a joke if she'd ever seen one, so delicate they were transparent; and while it was beautiful, it served absolutely no purpose except to visually mock her every time she shivered.

The queen slapped the dark look from Alice's face, "If you must look so dour then keep your eyes on the floor!" she barked threateningly, and Alice had very little doubt of the pain that would come if she continued to glare. Carefully rearranging her face into a natural appearance she carefully studied the wall on the other side of the room.

"Feed them, clothe them, give them presents, and what do they do to repay you?" Mirana sighed, jiggling the leash she held loosely, letting Alice know she expected an answer.

However at that moment Iracebeth decided to walk into the room, giving her sister a large smile, "You could always spay her, I hear that puts a curb on their temperaments." she offered, taking the seat beside Mirana and demanding a pig.

"They never act the same after that." Mirana stated, waving her hand in a dismissing gesture, and Alice had to wonder what 'spay' meant, a type of brainwashing, probably; she figured.

Tuning out the rest of their meaningless conversation she instead tried to think up another plan to retrive her friends, wondering if maybe should couldn't use the small table between the two thrones as a type of club. Though before she even finished the thought she banished it; there was no way such a weak table could do much damage against the armored guards; and it would offer even less protection from the blades the guards wielded.

The throne doors suddenly flung open and the guards announced the hatter's arrival, unintentionally giving Alice a moment to mask her features from the hateful glare. 'The Royal Hatter', how nice that Tarrant had gotten his old position back; he had so been looking forward to it after all. Shuddering she focused her eyes onto the floor; she'd managed to avoid his eyes so far by doing the same thing.

Shortly after the announcement she could hear the quick tapping of his feet, though to her it sounded more like cannon blasts. As always, there was a ever so slight pause, lasting for not even a breath, before the continued and he was before the queen. She seen him bow out of the corner of her eye, that stupidly shy smile on his face as he held out a slim box.

The jerk on her leash gained her attention once more, and she felt as though a large boulder had suddenly been dropped into her stomach. She knew, without having being told, that she would despise whatever the box within the queen's black gloved hands.

"Alice, look, your gift has arrived."

* * *

Tarrant wanted to look at her more then he could ever remember wanting anything before in his life; but he made sure to keep his eyes glued to the queens feet. He knew that, if he dared even to peek, he would lose all sense of self; and that was something that he just could not tempt. Should Mirana catch even a whiff that something was off, she would have him in prison like so many others, and any hope of escape would be gone.

He'd managed to release Mallymkun and Thackery and, with the help of the kitchen staff, managed to smuggle them out of the palace. He was sure that, by now, they were on their way to the outlands; at least, he prayed that they were; his plan really couldn't afford for them to be caught again.

When the queen jerked on Alice's leash he forced himself to remain quiet by biting harshly on the side of his tongue, knowing that it wouldn't be the last time before this 'visit' was over. When the leash jerked again he pinched his leg, but when she answered, in a voice sounding as hollow as a dead tree trunk, he almost fell to his knees.

His bright, curious, brave little Alice; who's voice always reflected what she felt, had a hollow voice; the thought disturbed him to no end. When she was ordered to stand before the queen he pushed his gaze lower to the floor, using his lids to cover his eyes as the queen took out the beautiful sky blue collar.

He hadn't thought he'd be forced to bare witness to Alice's new collar, a collar he'd spent two days making. He wondered if she would feel the cotton lining, or notice that thin stitching of the buttons; would she realize he hadn't forgotten her? Would she know he only remained because there was no other way to free her?

"I said you can go!" Mirana's voice snapped, followed quickly by Iracebeth's dry comments on his sanity. Cursing himself for his thoughts and worried he'd said something condemning he muttered his apologies and gave a departing bow as he back away from the royal witches and escaped the room completely, leaving his poor Alice to their devices for yet another day.

Once the doors shut he turned away from the room and allowed himself a moment to swallow down his hatred and worry; neither feeling would do any good. Walking back to his rooms he opened his doors and stepped inside, shutting them calmly and locking them for 'privacy'. Once he was sure the lock held he stormed towards a thick plush chair and knelt before it, then firmly stuffed his face into the thick cushion and screamed.

* * *

Alice wanted to take the collar and smack the queen with it, wanted to snarl as she scratched her eyes out, but she didn't. She held the feelings to herself, refused to bat a lash as the collar buttoned into place and the leash reattached to the silver hoop at the back. She would not allow the horrible woman to see her true feelings, shirked to give the evil witch the satisfaction of knowing she'd gotten to the younger woman.

Instead, she continued to keep her face blank, and even managed to thank the lying treacherous queen for the 'gift', just to spite her. Mirana's enraged glare and a pitiless kick to her stomach was Alice's reward, and she found her nails biting into the tender flesh of her palm from the effort it took her not to fight back.

How could she have trusted the woman so easily? How could she have not gotten even a single whiff of a clue as to the woman's true intention; how was it that nobody had even the inkling of an idea of what she'd actually planned? When she thought back on it, there were hints. Tell-tell signs that there was something not quite right. Pacifists avoided fights no matter the cost, they didn't dabble with a dead man's fingers or have hopeful wishes turned to powder for their potions.

Biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself in check Alice stared resolutely at her spot on the wall again, trying to form a sturdy enough plan to rescue her friends before Mirana decided to use them for her entertainment. However no plan came up, proving her to continue to be the useless, thoughtless little girl; able only to receive help and unable to give it when it mattered.

When Mirana suddenly stood and began to leave the room she felt her leash transferred over to Iracebeth, who took it and wrapped it around her wrist, like she always did. After waiting several minutes for the guard detail to follow the queen Iracebeth finally stood and walked over to Alice, looking down at the blonde without remorse.

"I don't suppose my reminding you that your life would be easier just accepting facts would do any good, would it?" she asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at Alice's single shake of the head. With a sigh she waved her hand, bringing a guard forth, "Get the girl some food and water, be quick about it, I'm sure she's had nothing to eat all day." she snapped, ignoring his bow before he left.

Looking at the red head she nodded her thanks; wary of the kindness she kept showing when her sister wasn't around. Though she was only once a day she was thankful for Iracebeth's demand for daily feedings and 'walks' (which were actually a quick jaunt to the lavatory). She didn't ask why Iracebeth did these things and in return Iracebeth didn't offer to let her know; Alice guessed there was something other then generosity spurring the short-tempered woman on, though.

When the guard returned he set a bowl food and water before the blonde, then turned and went back to his position. When Iracebeth produced a fork she took it with another nod and began eating quickly, not wanting to taste the food she was eating, then drained the bowl of water in a small series of gulps to rid herself both of the lingering flavor and her thirst.

Putting the bowl back on the ground she received a surprise when Iracebeth bent to retrieve the bowls and accidentally dropped a small shinny dagger. Blinking at the dagger Alice looked back to Iracebeth, who was taking much to long to pick up the bowls. Reaching out with a trembling hand she took the knife and hid it within her dress, depositing the sheathed knife into her bodice.

Once she finished Iracebeth picked up the bowls and cleared her throat for the same guard, who accepted the dirtied dishes; "You should begin thinking about what you should do, Alice, it would be such a pity for you to make the wrong decision."

Alice couldn't hide her tremble at the foreboding words.

* * *

Authors Note: Thus, you have chapter one of my pet project that will receive most of my attention; it's something I couldn't really get out of my head... You know, what with Mirana and her weird spell ingredients, I figured "what if she needed Jabberwocky blood?". Hope you enjoyed chapter one (promise I'll deliver a proper length for chapter two), I know I had fun writing it!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All the characters were modeled after AiW(2010), the storyline is my own, though I've taken several things from the movie to use here and there. Original ownership of Alice in Wonderland (originally Alice's Adventures Underground) belonged to Lewis Carroll.

Be Aware: Don't assume to know until you know to assume.

Special Thanks: Ngoc Chau for all the kind words that were given to me so generously; they were more inspiring then anyone could know. This chapter was written up so quickly due to their encouraging words, it hadn't been scheduled to be completed until tomorrow.

* * *

Silly Girl

* * *

_Breathing fast she ran though a forest, blood rushing and heart pumping with each hurried step that she took; racing to get away. She could hear sounds behind her, twigs snapping and leaves rustling, from her pursuer; and it only spurned her faster. Getting caught would mean something terrible, already, as it was, she knew she was weakening from blood loss, though she couldn't see from where._

_Crying out she pressed on, gasping air into her burning lungs so quickly she wasn't sure if she was at all breathing; her side's screaming in protest almost as much as her legs were read to give. Wanting something, but unsure what she wanted, Alice gave another cry and fell, rolling across sticks and undergrowth. So tired she couldn't force herself to stand, even knowing what was after her, she had failed in her escape, and this time there wouldn't be a second chance._

_Curling into a ball she began sobbing, the lose of hope more painful then her wounds, until a soft touch at her shoulder drew her attention._

* * *

Alice darted awake with a gasp, choking breath after breath into her lungs while her hands covered her mouth to keep the scream at bay. Another dream of endless running that had ended with her loss, only slightly different from the others but still the same. She'd lost.

The soft pillows that made up her 'bed' were slightly damp where her head had been resting, and a quick touch of her cheeks confirmed the tell-tell wetness to be tears. She couldn't help but wonder in annoyance when her tears would finally dry out, the useless liquid made it impossible to appear to be as unaffected as she strived so hard to portray to be. Thankfully, she knew they would dry soon, leaving nothing behind but slightly puffy eyes and maybe cheeks just a bit cleaner.

Sighing she wrapped her arms around her legs and prodded her cage's door with her big toe, trying not to feel as helpless as she was. She yearned to pat the hidden knife that she'd stashed under the pillows, not sure if she were truly alone or not. She held little doubt that, if seen with it, it would be quickly removed from her by force and, if she was lucky, put to death for thievery. She honestly wouldn't mind being put to death, if it wasn't for poor Mallymkun and Thackery, she was sure she would use the knife against Mirana and willingly accept the punishment of killing a royal.

Holding back her temper she laid back and studied the top of her cage, the thick metal bars spaced so closely together she could hardly reach her forearm though. Narrowing her eyes she wondered at Mirana's desire to keep her alive and at her side; besides showing Underland that even their champion, The Alice, was at her mercy. There had to be another reason, hadn't there? Though Alice couldn't figure out one, honestly, maybe the woman really was that shallow and hateful.

Giving up her thoughts she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, knowing she needed to keep up what little energy she had and keep herself healthy. If she wanted to escape with her friends, she needed to be strong enough to support not only herself, but them as well.

Tarrant was out of his mind when he woke up, the dark burnt orange color raging from his iris's as he threw items about, neither knowing nor caring where they landed or what he broke in his fury. He'd once more dreamed of her, fallen and bleeding with more tears then he wished to count flowing down her face; and just when he'd managed to reach her to save her, she disappeared into smoke with a strangle cry of helplessness.

Another strangled scream ripped from him and he dropped to his knees, hitting the beautiful marble floor with a clenched fist he squeezed his eyes closed. His poor Alice, forced to live a hellish existence as the play-thing for two sick and twisted sisters while he sat around on his soft down mattress and pillows, tittering about with lace and silk.

What must she think, to not even be looked at by someone she viewed as a most trusted friend; to be ignored while in her most pitiful and needing time by the one person who begged for her help. If it wasn't for the kitchen staff he would not even know if she ate, though it tortured him to know it was only the scraps they served the palace staff from the day before, he was at least thankful she wouldn't starve.

He needed to get her out of the palace, soon, for his own peace of mind as much as her life, he needed to set her free. He was sure there was a way for her to return to the life she'd lead before she'd fallen down the bloody McTwisp's hole; and by god he'd find it, even if it meant the fall and ruin of Underland, he would see her safely home. Away from the filth and evil of Underland, where he could rest assured that no matter what happened, she would live; truthfully, that was all that mattered.

Looking to his spacious room's ceiling he willed himself to quite, it wouldn't do anybody any good if he were caught having a fit; though if he was, he would put the blame on a pair of defective cutters. It had worked the last time, it would work again.

She would only be captive a few more days, he promised himself, just a few more days until he finished gathering the tools and supplies needed. He couldn't afford for anything in his plan to go wrong, because if he failed he knew it wasn't his neck alone that would be punished; and even if it was, there would be no one else to save Alice from a future as black as the black queens rule.

* * *

Two Weeks Later

* * *

She sat at Mirana's feet, again, as the queen sat upon her throne, listening to a villager argue his case to the evil woman. His hands and feet were bound with a coarse rope, and Alice had to bite her lip when the abused skin at his wrist began to bleed from where it rubbed against. To her ears, it didn't sound as though he was guilty of anything besides paying to much for a small bit of potato's.

"You deny that you caused a disturbance at the market?" The queen snapped, "Bold of you, as the guards report otherwise! You were seen willfully ranting against the taxes you were charged even before you handed the money over. Taxes, may I remind you, that are used to keep this kingdom running smoothly!" she leaned forward, her snow white hair a stark contrast to the dress she now wore, the sinister gleam in her eye stabbing at the now sobbing man.

"Milady, I swear, I only said I was a bit to short to buy anything else!" The man cried, electing no pity from Mirana, "I've a family to feed and care for, my queen, please!"

Alice watched as Mirana sneered at the man, then sighed and stood up, "Iracebeth, take care of this fool!" she ordered, her eyes narrowing.

"Off with is head!" Iracebeth immediately snapped, and the sobbing man began screaming, his voice echoing and bouncing off the throne room walls as the guards stepped forward and dragged him out. Alice shuddered, wishing she could give the man a bit of help, even if only a supportive word and hoping that his family would survive without him.

"They do nothing but complain, Iracebeth, have Styne do something over the matter, would you?" Mirana asked, rubbing her temples as though she suffered a headache. Iracebeth agreed as Alice watched the black queen stand and pass over the leash to her younger sister, "Oh, and please take Alice for her walk, would you? The guards are a mite busy with something of more importance and can't be bothered with it today, and I would hate for her to mess the floor."

Alice almost grinned, rather liking the idea of Mirana bending over to scrub her 'mess' from the floor; to bad it would never happen. Watching the leash land into Iracebeth's open palm she waited until Mirana had left the room, then stood up. Honestly, she was wanting a visit to the lavatory, and if she was lucky, maybe Iracebeth would allow her to eat earlier then usual.

Not that she would ask, of course; she would never stoop low enough to ask either women for anything. Even if she were to starve to death, she refused to beg for even a crumb of bread! She might not be the champion that Underland had expected her to be, but she would damn herself an eternity to hell before she groveled at the feet of their (un)fair queen or her spoiled little sister.

She felt herself being lead out of the room and she hurriedly made sure to keep a few paces ahead of Iracebeth so that she wouldn't be jerked into the place. It had taken several times for her to learn that she was expected to walk a pace ahead of the leash holder, but less times to realize the slight pulls either left or right were hints for her to turn.

Once finished relieving herself she was then lead to the kitchen where she was fed, which was a new experience for her, as the staff was more then happy to give her anything she wanted, and placed a hot plate onto the table for her to dine. They even filled a large goblet with fresh juice and urged her to drink as much as she wanted, which she quickly did.

Iracebeth sat before her, calmly waiting for her to finish, then stood and glared at everyone, pointing to a small girl that was busily washing dishes, "You! Watch the girl or forfeit your life, I'll return after I visit the loo; be aware that if she's gone when I return your head will be removed!"

The girl quickly nodded her head and accepted the leash, holding it with only two fingers and a slight shudder, "Firmly, girl, haven't you ever held a leash before?" Iracebeth snapped, and the girls hand quickly fisted the leather tightly into her hand. With that, Iracebeth left the room, quick and sturdy steps sounding out loudly within the kitchen; leaving Alice in a sate of confusion.

However when the kitchen staff started to try to shove something under her skirt she snapped out of her pondering and attempted to push them away, "Alice! Be still, we haven't much time!" a woman's voice snapped, causing her to freeze.

They'd hardly managed to stuff whatever it was into place before Iracebeth returned, "I've changed my mind, the leash!" The kitchen girl quickly released the leash over to Iracebeth and bowed away from her, going back to her chore without further prompting.

Bending over Alice before the younger woman could stand she locked their eyes, "Don't get use to this treatment, girl, understand that it's for today only." leaning back up she jerked the leash and pulled Alice from her seat, then out of the kitchen. Alice had to jog to catch up with her, then remain walking quickly in order to keep 'her place' as she knew she must.

Having Iracebeth's help had tripped her up and confused her greatly, and she knew without having been told that something was going to happen. Something that even Iracebeth wasn't looking forward to, and the help meant that Alice herself would be a key part in it. She felt her hands beginning to tremble the closer they got to the throne room, when she was jerked to a stop.

Looking back she realized Iracebeth had stopped walking, and seemed to be looking expectantly down another hall. Waiting along with the red headed woman she found herself staring into the same spot, only to see the one person she had willed herself to never want to see again. With a gasp she stepped back, but the leash held firm, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the startled green eyes that seemed to almost smother her.

* * *

Shocked would have been a good word for what Tarrant had felt when he'd walked down the hall to report to the Throne room as Iracebeth had ordered. The red and black fabric's clutched in hand for her to choose from had fallen to the floor, unraveling as they rolled across the polished white tiles. Her hair was neatly brushed and styled away from her face, revealing her perfect peach colored skin, marred only from a large bruise that was on it's way to healing.

His feet carried him towards her before he knew he was walking, and he had to visibly pull himself together before he crushed her into his arms. "Hatter!" Iracebeth's voice snapped, but he found himself unwilling to look away from the wide brown eyes that held him prisoner. "Hatter, I demand your attention immediately!" this time a whispered and somewhat urgent order, one that had his eyes snapping to look at the loathsome big-headed woman.

"I don't know what you're loitering about for, but I'm not a patient woman!" Iracebeth snarled at him, her eyes flashing with promise, "Mirana is busy with some affairs this evening and I'm in need of a new gown; something warm and functional, understood?" looking down at the fabric on the ground she sneered, "None of these will do at all, try again!"

With that she was pulling his Alice away, and he watched as Alice all but ran ahead of her to enter the throne room. Once the doors were closed he rushed to pick up his fallen items, then stormed back into his hattery to throw them all against the carpeted floor once more. Damn the bloody big head! She'd tricked him into looking at Alice, he would be all but useless and would be anything but helpful to the woman now!

Picking up a bundle of red he made to throw it across the room, then paused.

It was odd that she would make mention of her sister being away to someone as lowly as a mere hatter; stranger still was that she would insist on having a warm and functional dress; both sisters thrived o having nothing but stylish. What with Mirana liking gossamer gowns and Iracebeth's fondness for layers upon layers of cloth and lace.

Suddenly dropping the bundle he stared into space, then immediately set about finding a wonderfully bright blue fabric; he would first make the dress, then a heavy shawl for added protection. Shoes would be necessary, of course, something flat that she would be able to run with.

* * *

Alice knew, just knew, that Iracebeth was planning something; and she knew that whatever her plan, the hatter and Alice herself was essential; but she kept her mouth closed and made sure not to even look at the other woman with curious eyes. Even if the plan wasn't for her sake, Alice would still benifit from it; and if she'd learned anything during her two week imprisonment, it was: never look a gift horse in the mouth.

She'd been so shocked at seeing Tarrant that she'd almost cried out and run away without hearing the queens orders. His eyes, those magnetic green eyes, had drowned her; filling her with emotions she'd thought dead while at the same time despairing her and her naivety. She'd been so thankful when his eyes tore away from her she'd almost crumbled to the ground with heavy sobs, but she'd managed to hold them back.

Now, safely back to her place at the foot of Mirana's throne, she found a small bit of time 'alone' (though she knew she wasn't) to calm herself. Iracebeth had, in only small terms, told her that she would either have to make herself scarce by morning, or... Something else. Frowning, she wished she knew the lingering 'or what' that the red-head always hinted at but never voiced. Just what were Mirana's plans? Why was Iracebeth even helping her?

There would be no answer to her questions, however, and as difficult as it was, Alice knew that she had to put them out of mind and get her facts together quickly in order to prepare herself. She wasn't sure when, but she knew Tarrant would come for her and help her escape the castle that night. She also knew that Iracebeth had helped to give her tools; a knife and an two unknown items, both in small bags that were tightly pressed between her knickers and her skin.

Mallymkun and Thackery would still be in their cells, she guessed, and she wondered if there wasn't a way to sneak down to them and break them out. She couldn't leave them behind while she fled to safety; but she also knew the coming night would be her last and only chance to either succeed or die; and she could hardly save them if she died.

Mirana would be busy doing something and most the guards were all attending to something else, leaving only Iracebeth and perhaps a handful of soldiers to guard her. She doubted Iracebeth would offer any more help then she already had, as it was, Alice was more then thankful for what the once red ruler had done for her. She would not ask for anything more of the woman even if Iracebeth was willing to give more; from now on, she would only rely on herself.

Frowning she shifted and attempted to feel if she couldn't guess what the contents of the bags were, however soon gave up. Moving around to much might result in them falling out and it would be near impossible to put them back without anyone noticing her actions; so instead, she sat in forced patience.

Mirana returned a short time later and took her place back in her throne and had more Underlarian's troop inside, each one sentenced for one crime or another. Theft, actions against the queen, rebellion, terrorism, and resisting arrest seemed the be the popular accusations against them; and it didn't matter which argument they used, they were all sentenced the same way.

She doubted Iracebeth had ever ordered that many beheadings in one sitting before and found herself somewhat pitying the woman as she snapped it out once again; her face set in stone and eyes hard as diamonds. If the bloody red queen was hated before, she was certainly despised now; before long the prisoners had stopped giving arguments, instead merely accepting their fate as woodenly as Alice felt.

* * *

Tarrant had finished the needed items and had folded them neatly into a bag that held his acquired tools for his and Alice's escape. He wasn't at all pleased with what he had, but from what he understood, he would have to make due. If he were lucky, he could maybe steal a sword from one of the few soldiers that had remained behind, if not, then he would have to extemporize as he went and stick as closely to the shadows as he could.

Hiding the bag back over the canopy of his bed he made his way out of his room and down the hall towards the kitchen to acquire what provisions he could; only to find a bag already prepared for him and stuffed into his hands. Taking the bag and quickly throwing the strap over his shoulder he thanked them and made to leave, only to have a man prevent him from doing so.

"Don't leave yet, you'll look to suspicious." A man's voice whispered, "Eat something, first, then go." Tarrant nodded in understanding and sat down where a bowl of soup was placed.

"We made sure she was well fed and gave her plenty of juice to drink, you should do the same." a woman reported, gesturing to the juice. "There's more in the bag, it'll be useful for what's sure to come, but make sure you use it sparingly and not just to quench your thirst." she warned.

Nodding he took the spook in hand and said gruffly, "Thank all ye, without your help I dinna kin if ah could've come this far." he muttered to his plate, "Th' Black-Hearted-Queen'll fall, Ah'll be seein' ta that."

"None of that, maintain, Hatter!" a voice urged, giving his shoulder a slight shake, "You must have your wits about you!" nodding again he took his time with the soup before him, forcing the food into his belly before drinking the juice and nodding to them all. They returned the nod, their eyes gleaming with hope.

"Hatter, if all else fails.." a man started, pulling out a short sword and pressing it into Tarrant's hand, "remember that you're called Mad Hatter for a reason."

Taking the sword he slipped it into his pant leg, his eyes a solid emerald green, "Aye."

* * *

Authors Note: Hmm... Yes, I like it; soon I'll be able to get to the good parts. It's kind of difficult to give just enough hints to whet appetites but not enough to tell what's going to unfold. The balance is slightly even, I think, and when I get to certain parts I want everyone share the same shocked feelings.

Big thanks to everyone who's reading, even if you aren't reviewing! I hope I'm not disappointing anyone with this chapter; personally I rather enjoyed writing it and feel that I managed to come up with enough of a tense atmosphere. I hope you're all looking forward to chapter three as much as I am!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The original Alice in Wonderland was created by Lewis Carroll, the adaptation that I'm using is from the AiW(2010) movie directed by Burton. The plot, however, is mine with the soul purpose to entertain without intention of being reimbursed for my time and work.

Be Aware: Don't assume to know, until you know to assume.

* * *

Silly Girl

* * *

That evening Alice found herself back inside her cage, arms looped around her legs as she waited for the hatter to come for her with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. She'd missed seeing him, during her stay in Underland she'd hardly seen him a handful of times; and each of those times he'd been near to singing the praises of his queen while insisting she slay the Jabberwocky. Had even gotten angry with her when she'd first refused, threatened to actually leave her behind in the middle of nowhere when she'd only been hardly an inch tall!

He'd always proudly declared his loyalty to the white queen, never holding a doubt in her nature; never budging an inch, even when he was captured. What did he care about a blonde he hardly knew? Throw her in front of a dragon, what did he care? It was all for his lovely, beautiful, fair queen; what was another silly little girl, beside a pawn to move?

Snarling she hit her fist against the pillow below her, not satisfied at all as it connected with the soft plush cotton stuffing. Muttering she closed her eyes briefly, forcing her body and mind to relax and concentrate on the task at hand; if the bloody man didn't show up soon, she would try to escape herself. With the knife she'd managed to keep hidden she could probably take out the guard if she used the advantage of surprise there was a possibility that she could win.

The only downside to her plan, that she could think of off hand, was that she didn't know where in the room the guard hid. The once white chess armored knights had since become black, blending in well to the complete darkness of her 'room'; which truly resembled a larger-then-average storage closet; completely empty but for the pillow filled cage in the middle.

She didn't know how he could see her in such darkness, but she had a feeling that Mirana was behind it, the woman was anything but stupid and Alice held little doubt that she was able to make a potion of some kind. It was a daunting thought, but she knew that the palace halls would be lit, as always, for the royal court to easily navigate.

A sudden muffled sound drew her attention behind her and she frowned, holding her breath and waiting to see if another would follow. It did, this time louder; knowing who it was, but wanting to make sure she turned and grasped the bars to her cage, "Who's out there?"

* * *

When Tarrant had managed to smuggle himself into the room before they'd brought in Alice he'd been confused; the only thing within was a cage filled with several small pillows in the center. No furniture, no paintings, not even a window to allow a breeze or a chair for anyone to sit; and absolutely nowhere for him to hide until it was time for his plan to set into action.

At first he'd been tempted to go back and just wait until Alice and the guard entered the room, but had he done that he would have alerted the guard and given away his advantage. So gritting his teeth he went to the corner beside the door and crouched down, keeping his luminescent eyes covered with the brim of his hat he prayed he would go unnoticed.

Thankfully, when the guard brought Alice into the room and locked her within the cage he'd gone unnoticed; and when the minutes slowly ticked by he wondered what deity he should thank when he hadn't been spotted. When five minutes turned to ten he began wondering if perhaps if even the rook keeping watch couldn't see, and decided to take a chance by standing.

The first two steps had gone unnoticed, as had the next two.

Inching his way toward the cage he was forced to reach out blindly, damning Mirana for her cunning; if only Mallymkun was with him. The little spit-fire had excellent night-vision and could pick even the hardest of locks... He'd even go so far as to trade Cheshire his precious hat for his eyes... Well, maybe not that far; but he would certainly allow the blasted cat to borrow it for a day!

When his hand first touched the cage he almost sagged in relief, only to be jerked back to the danger of his situation by a large hand gripping his jacket collar. When he was thrown away from the cage he landed harshly on the ground, and he cursed himself for a fool when he realized he'd left the sword in the corner with the two bags.

Hardly having a chance to right himself before he was hit again, Tarrant tried to smother his grunt and made a wild swing towards the rook only to realize he was facing the wrong way when the rooks foot connected with his legs, tripping him back down to the floor.

"Who's out there?"

Trying to pick himself up he heard the rook snap for Alice's silences, smirking at the direction it came from he launched himself from the floor, and couldn't hold back the thrill he felt when his shoulder connected with the rooks armor. The ting of metal hitting the floor echoed around the room and Tarrant quickly took the rooks confusion to his advantage and patted him down for his sword. Finding it, he grinned madly and grasped the hilt victoriously, pulling it from the sheath at the rooks side he stood to position the blade where he thought it's chest to be.

"Tarrant?"

The rook dove to the side as the sword struck down, hitting nothing but the floor; growling lowly he tried again, swinging the blade in an arch he heard it clank loudly against the rooks armor. Spurred on by the vague sense of location he made another blind swing, gratified when he felt pressure pushing against the sword and a pained grunt.

Twisting the sword and pulling it back out he heard the rook stumble to the ground and gritted his teeth, raising the sword over his head he slashed straight down until the blade could no longer move, then released the hilt and listened as the rook fell one last time. Breathing harshly he stumbled away from the guard until his back was pressed against the wall.

"Alice!" He whispered loudly, closing his eyes against the darkness he felt alongside the wall, "You'll have to direct me using your voice, I can't see you." he heard the clank metal against metal and froze; had another guard been in the room that he hadn't noticed?

Hearing the noise again he frowned, it hadn't sounded like armor, more like a chain dragging against bars. Quickly putting two and two together he made his way towards the sound, flinching when his foot connected with the body on the floor he carefully made his way around it, his hands out before him to wave about slowly until he came into contact with the cage.

"Alice!" He whispered again.

* * *

Alice jumped, "Tarrant?" she questioned, when he acknowledged her with the affirmative she breathed in relief, "What happened?"

"Just a bit of difficulty, don't worry about it." He stated evenly and Alice shuddered, guessing what the 'difficulty' was, "I can pick the lock, but you'll have to lead me to where it is." he whispered and she released the chains and drew her hands against the side of the bars where she knew he was, jumping again when she felt the warm digits against her own.

When his fingers firmly grasped hers she tried to pull them away, but he held firm; "You're okay?" He asked her gruffly, his thumb rubbing small circles against the top of her hand.

"Yes, of course I am." she answered hesitantly, disliking the tingling feeling he was creating, "I'll be better when I'm out of this thing, though."

Squeezing her hand before he released it she told him to drag his hand along with hers, soon he was in front of the lock. She heard a rustling sound before metal began to clink around, alerting her that he had begun working on the lock. Licking her lips she crouched in front of the 'door'; "Listen, Mally and Thackery are-"

"Safely on their way to the Outlands, if they're not already there, I promise you." he cut her off, "Seen to it myself weeks back." the lock gave another clink before the chains clinked from around the bars; then Tarrant was pulling her out and into his arms.

Gasping Alice tried to push away, clenching her eyes shut tightly and trying not to breath in the smell of fresh cloth and earl gray. However he only held her more tightly, "I'm sorry, Alice, I'm so sorry." he whispered into her ear, petting her hair as he pressed his face against hers, "You'll be free soon, I swear my life on it."

Feeling tears begin to prick her eyes she finally managed to shove him away, holding him at arms length she took a deep breath, trying to strengthen her resolve; "Thackery and Mallymkun aren't in the dungeon, then?"

"Of course not, I got them out shortly after they were captured." He insisted, sounding troubled and confused, "We've got to go now, Alice."

* * *

They'd made it from the room and out of the hall without trouble, walking as stealthy as they could down the brightly lit hall. When they spotted the stairs, however, Tarrant cursed. Two knights were standing attention on either side of the railing, each with two black swords hanging snugly in position at their hips.

Pressing his back against the wall he held up a hand and shook his head, then waved her back the way they had come. "There's two guards at the stairs, we'll have to try the servant stairs instead." he whispered, placing his hand at the small of her back to steer her towards the direction.

She was stiff against his hand, though, and he found himself quickly removing it and just lead the way ahead of her; and even as he tried not to think about it, his mind kept revolving around the fact that she didn't want him to touch her. It bothered him, but he couldn't bring himself to blame her for it. To her, it had looked like he'd turned his back on her to save his own skin; or worse, used her as a tool to aid the black queen's plot.

Tarrant wanted to drag her aside and tell her the truth, but he refrained; it wasn't the time, nor place, to plead for her forgiveness and explain his reasoning. It would have to wait until she was, at least, safely away from the castle; tucked away in the Outlands with the rest until he could find a way to return her to her world.

Before he knew how much time had passed they were already half way down the servants stairs; just a two more halls and one room and they would reach the kitchen. He paused at the foot of the stairs and looked around the corner, muttering darkly when he spotted a low level guard flirting with a chamber maid.

"What is it?" Alice whispered near his ear, and he had to swallow before answering her, fearing his heart would leap out of his throat.

Gesturing with his thumb he shook his head, "A guard, but it looks to be one of the new recruits." he answered. When he seen her nod he waved her back a pace, "Stay here and I'll handle him, don't come out until I call for you, understand?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't order me around, Tarrant, I'm not a child."

* * *

At his surprised blink she felt like hitting her head against the wall, and probably would have, had they not been in such a stressing situation. "Never mind, I understand." she retracted, going up a step to show she would listen.

When he nodded and darted around the corner she gripped the railing tightly in her fist, reaching to her bodice to pull out the small knife to clutch in her other hand. Going back down the step she peeked around the corner, relaxing a bit when as she watched Tarrant block the guards attack with his sword while his foot slid behind his knee; tripping the guard with apparent ease.

Stepping back again she went to lean her head back against the wall, only to see the black blade swinging down just in time to jump away from the lethal attack seconds before it stabbed into the stone walls. She suddenly felt as though the small knife in her hand weighed more then the Vorpal sword, and unlike the sword, she felt no calm reassurance that she would live through the battle.

Closing her mind she crouched down and prepared to lunge herself at the knight, only to be knocked away by an enraged Tarrant, who wasted little time plunging his sword deep into the knights gut. When he spun around his orange eyes speared her, "Ye will run next time, lass." he growled, pulling the sword out of the knight and reaching for her arm. Holding it in a protective grip he pulled her along beside him.

"I was fine." She snapped, attempting to wrestle her arm from his grasp, "He caught me by surprise is all!" he stopped and looked at her silently, shaking his head slowly as though not trusting himself to speak and she quickly found herself nodding.

"Hatter?"

His eyes stayed orange as he began to pull her along behind him, leaving the young chamber maid in a state of distress. Alice knew his current state of mind was unstable, but was at a loss of what to do to snap him out of it. "Hatter!"

"Be silent now, lass." Tarrant snapped, not bothering to turn around to look at her as he spoke, "I be in no gud mood righ' now so ye just do as ye told."

* * *

The bloody gel had actually attempted to fight back against a well trained knight wielding a much better weapon, if he didn't know her any better he'd have taken her for a fool! If he hadn't gone to check why she hadn't responded she probably would have gotten herself killed; and if he never had to live to watch her get run though he would only be to grateful.

When they entered the kitchen all the staff seemed to stop; looking between the hatter and the woman as though there were from a different planet. Which, Tarrant supposed, the looks they all gave him came from a reason; he was sure it wasn't every day that a man burst into their area with a bloody sword and a bedraggled woman.

Nodding to them all he continued on his way when a large man stepped before him, blocking his path; "Hatter, I told you; you can't afford to be like this right now!" he barked lowly, snapping his fingers in front of the younger mans eyes, "Keep your wits about you or you won't last the night!"

"Ah'll last just fine." Tarrant growled, "Bugger ye'sel' off now; it be time fa th' lass an I tae go." pushing the man away he continued on, ignoring Alice's protests as they stepped though the kitchen doors that led out.

"Hatter!"

"Ye bes' just call me by name, girlie." he informed her, picking her up from around her waist and stuffing her none to gently in the back of a wooden cart filled with empty barrels before signaling the rider and jumping in after her.

Alice wouldn't say that she was angry with Tarrant, but she was a far cry from being happy with him, either. She never, not once in her life, been tossed about by anyone; and for it to have just suddenly happened without warning left her stewing for she didn't know how long. Though it obviously wasn't wrong, as when she made to peek over the side of the cart she could still clearly see the castle just a short distance away.

"Git dune!"

"Don't snap at me!" Alice argued, turning to rest her back against the side of the cart and glaring at him, "Throwing around orders left and right like I'm you're little..." she scrambled for a word, her face turning red when she couldn't find one. "It doesn't even matter what you're treating me like, I don't like it and I'd thank you to stop!"

"Then dinna be tinkin' me." Tarrant growled, his orange eyes narrowing at her brisk tone, "An' lower ye voice, gel, dinna want us tae be foun' do ye?"

Huffing at him she turned her attention onto the bottom of the cart. She'd had plenty of weeks to practice staring at a single spot, after all, and she would rather look at it then look into those dark orange eyes. The man was infuriating; for weeks on end seeming not to give a wit for her, then all of a sudden pulling around to act as though she mattered.

"I did miss you." she suddenly heard his soft voice and looked up, frowning into his sincere green eyes, "The kitchen staff kept me informed the best they could." when she continued to stare at him he leaned forward, unbuttoning the collar around her neck.

Alice glared at the collar; she'd all but forgotten it, "Such a lovely collar."

"I'm sorry."

"I had a great time, being jerked around here and there."

"I'm sorry."

She reached out for the collar, closing her fingers around it when Tarrant laid it against her palm; it was a solid leather that should have cut more then it had. Fingering the inside she discovered the padding and sighed, "I suppose it could have been worse." not looking up to see if he agreed or not she yawned and threw the collar deeper into the cart. Wrapping her arms around herself she shivered from the wind and fought to keep her eyes opened; she was weary from the escape and longed for a real bed that she could stretch out on and sleep.

Some rustling drew her attention towards the man across from her, he was taking something wrapped in cloth from out of one of the bags. "Made to the bloody-big-head's specifications." he offered with a timid smile, holding the package out to her.

Taking it and unwrapping the cloth she smiled and pulled out a dress and shawl, admiring them both before slipping the shawl over her shoulders and snuggling into the thick cotton, "Thank you, Tarrant."

He gave another grin before shrugging out of his jacket and laying it onto the cart beside him, "Sleep for a bit, I'll wake you when it's time for us to get off, until then you should try to get some rest." he said, leaning over to wrap the dress up once more, setting it down as a make-shift pillow.

She gratefully did as he suggested, and with the even rocking of the cart, soon found herself falling asleep.

* * *

Authors Note: Wah! I'm not pleased with this chapter at all, really! The fighting scene didn't come out like I wanted to at all, and the second time I did it only made it worse, so I had to revert back to the first (thankfully I hadn't deleted it, only moved it to my 'possibility' folder)! I'm so tweaking this entire thing before I post it. Hopefully, when you all read this, it won't tank nearly as bad as it does now! Woe, misery, and all things tragic!

-After Tweaking- Well, while it's not perfect, the fight scene is much better then the original; but it was a pain in the rear since I had to change much about this chapter in order to get it done! However now it all fits well with what's to come in the future.

**FYI**: _Ngoc Chau_ brought to my attention that I didn't explain something! Yes, in this fiction Iracebeth is the **YOUNGER **sister; this isn't because I forgot, it just fits my plot better, is all. However, if there's anyone who doesn't like this, then I can add in another chapter and give a reason why Iracebeth was 'masquerading' as the eldest... To me it doesn't really matter, but I know some of you might be sticklers. Just leave a note saying you want it, if not then don't worry about it.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: All characters were adapted by Tim Burton from Lewis Carroll's work of fiction "Alice in Wonderland".

Be Aware: Don't assume to know until you know to assume.

* * *

Silly Girl

* * *

Tarrant had let Alice sleep as much as she could until they had to leave the cart and switch over to another waiting cart at the edge of the town the rider had stopped in. It had taken the better part of the night for them to arrive, and they still had a ways to go until they reached the Underlarian boarder between Mamoreal and the Outerlands.

After stepping from the cart he quickly lead her behind a building and stood with his back to her while she changed into the dress he'd made her. It wasn't as beautiful as he'd wanted to make it, but it was thick and durable; made with their journey in mind. When she happily threw his other creation away he couldn't deny a bit of sadness; after all, it had look wonderful on her.

He wrapped her shawl over her head and told her to keep her face as covered as she could, not wanting one of the soldiers milling about to recognize her. After a very quick break where they split a soft loaf of bread and a bit of cheese they made there way to the other side of the town. He held her hand firmly as where it touched the crook of his arm; steering her around people and assuring that she didn't trip over the uneven ground.

"You there!" A voice called, and Tarrant felt a bit of panic. Smothering it the best he could he continued walking, pretending not to have heard. "The man in the hat, stop!" the voice called again, this time closer.

Gritting his teeth he muttered for Alice to stay silent and stopped, turning to the guard as he tried to mold his face into one of polite confusion. It was another of the lower guards, and Tarrant knew that if it came down to it, he could win; however as there were more then one close by, he doubted he had the ability to allow Alice enough time to escape.

"Yes?" Tarrant asked when the guard got closer.

However the guard kept walking, "Not you." he snapped, not bothering to turn and give the hatter a second look. "You there, the one in the brown hat!" He hollered again, "Stop where you are!"

Tarrant didn't need to be told twice and gathered Alice back up to hurriedly walk; there were almost there and if they were caught they would have to abandon the plan as Cheshire had only ordered the man's cart until the next town. Without Tarrant telling him where the destination would be he wouldn't know where to take Alice; if there had only been a bit of time where he could have told her he wouldn't be so worried.

Spotting the cart he would have ran for it had it not been for Alice's hand holding him firmly to her side, and he berated himself. He was helping her, not the other way around; he needed a tighter hold on himself!

Though he kept telling himself this, it was harder said then done. Already, so early on into the trip, he'd lost to his furious madness; he couldn't allow for his timid side to take over and put them both into as much danger as his fury. Alice needed a strong arm to lean on until she managed to regain her strength and peace of mind; and by everything he considered holy, including his ability as a hatter, he would be right at her side to help her.

When he stepped to the cart he was lifting Alice into the back, only to be stopped by the driver; "What are you two doing back there, this isn't for passengers!" the man snapped, waving them off, "Even if you paid me I couldn't take you, the back's soon to be to full as it is, go find yourself another mode of transportation."

Frowning in confusion Tarrant quickly helped Alice back down and offered his apologies to the man before he spotted another driver waving at them. Though, really, it couldn't be right; for instead of a cart it was a taxi. Cheshire wouldn't have hired them a taxi, they were expensive and tended to stand out when driven outside of towns.

However, when the wide shinning cat-eye's gleamed at him from under the drivers hat paired with the almost to wide smile, he knew Cheshire had done something even more ridiculous and unnecessary then that; he'd come as the bloody driver! Taking Alice by her hand he hoisted her into the taxi as Cheshire held the door open for him, the quickly stepped in as well, giving the cat a glare as it shut the door.

"In case you've forgotten, I'm supposed to be the mad one." Hatter snapped once there were outside of town and Alice had to

* * *

smother a growing smile. She'd wondered what had him stewing in the corner of the taxi for, apparently it was because Chess had decided to play a hand at human smuggling. "It's dangerous enough for Alice and I to be together, the last thing we need right now is you tagging alone."

"Oh do calm down, Hatty, I was dreadfully bored and I deserve a bit of a break. I've hardly gotten any rest in weeks, you know." Cheshire's mouth stated, "Do you know how long it took me to evaporate to the Outlands? Even I am not able to make that trip overnight; as it was I had to stay and recover for days before I was able to do anything else."

Tarrant snorted, "If you had to recover for days then how can you say you haven't rested in weeks?" Tarrant grumbled as Alice reached into their bag of food and took out a small slice of sweet bread to nibble on.

"It isn't that bad, is it?" Alice asked, breaking off a piece of the bread to chew while she waited for Tarrant to answer. She'd been surprised and overjoyed to have seen Cheshire, having not even a clue where he'd gone it was good to see he was well.

"It's bad because he's supposed to be somewhere else." Tarrant answered her, glaring at the hovering mouth, "Why aren't you somewhere else?"

"Because I wanted to be here." Cheshire grinned.

Alice wondered if she should doubt his answer, knowing that he enjoyed nothing more then to bother anyone and everyone who aspired to have a conversation with him. When she looked at Tarrant and seen his disbelieving face she knew he thought the same way; when Cheshire was involved, things were never as they first seemed to be.

She watched Tarrant lean forward and rest his elbows against his knees, clasping his hands before him while he glared at the spot beside her. "Something went wrong?"

"Of course something went wrong, Tarrant, something always goes wrong with plans, you know that." the cat answered pointedly, "This time, however, I needed to become personally involved, knowing the both of you as well as I do."

Arching an eyebrow Alice cocked her head to the side a bit, "What went wrong, then, Chess?" she questioned before Tarrant could translate the thoughts written on his face into words.

"It's not really 'went' but actually 'going'." Cheshire answered gaily, "The driver I originally sent seemed to have come from a difference source at first; a mistake on my part, I'm afraid. Seems we're now being followed, as troublesome as that is." his mouth gesturing to the side; which Alice found interesting as she didn't know mouths could gesture.

Alice and Tarrant nearly dove for the side window at the same time, however couldn't see hair nor hide of anyone following them. "There isn't anyone out there." Alice stated in confusion; though she did admit it was rather dark, and since she knew from first hand experience how well black blended in with the night, she knew she could have been wrong.

"He's there, I assure you, though you would have to have evaporating skills to see him." Cheshire informed them, "I think he seems to think his are on par with mine, however soon I shall prove otherwise. First, however, we must make it look as though we don't notice him, get him off our sent, so to speak."

* * *

Alice had nearly fallen asleep, again, only to suddenly be jerked from her seat as the carriage sped up, "Change of plans, again, this is beginning to get bothersome." she heard Cheshire's voice speak again as his mouth reappeared out of thin air.

Tarrant opened his mouth, only to be interrupted as the carriage made a sudden sharp turn, as though trying to dodge something. "What's going on?" Alice cried out, gripping the bottom of her seat in fear when she was lurched around again.

"I seem to have underestimated our friend, which he's apparently taken offense to." Cheshire answered, "Best for the both of you to sit on the floor for a bit while I take care of this, try not to move around to much, I fear I'm not the greatest of drivers, and this form is beginning to tire me a bit."

She heard Tarrant curse before she was dragged from her seat and pushed to the floor, "Stay there, lass." he snapped before leaning out of the carriage window and shooting another curse, "I thought you said 'he'!" he growled.

"I suppose I was wrong?"

* * *

Tarrant gaped at the handful of large birds flying around the carriage, flying low enough to be level with the top of the taxi. Putting his head back in his quickly as one of them swooped down, it's talon's managing to snatch his hat off his head for it's effort. Forcibly restraining the urge to leap after it he instead snatched one of his bags and withdrew his large pin canister, unscrewing the top to pluck out a small few. "Try to keep the carriage from shaking so much!" he snapped to Cheshire before leaning back out.

"You're not helping matters much, yourself." he heard Cheshire complain as a wheel bounced off the ground, "Don't blame me if you fall out."

Not bothering to answer he readied a pin the best he could before throwing it at one of the birds, grinning when the stuck animal gave a screech before lifting itself higher into the sky. The second pin he threw missed completely, however, and nearly got his arm tore off as talon's grasped him. If he hadn't managed to pull the appendage in enough for Alice to make a jab at it with the sword, he would have been missing more then only his jacket sleeve.

He'd managed to bring one done completely before Cheshire's voice suddenly shouted from the front, followed by a near weightless moment as the cart made a grand bounce against the ground, breaking a back wheel off. He heard Alice's horrified scream before all sound and color suddenly faded away and he felt himself falling into gray.

* * *

Watching Tarrant evaporate had been the most terrifying thing she'd ever thought she'd see in her life, and for a moment, she'd had the wild thought that when Underlarian's died, they merely disappeared. She'd been so scared, as a matter of fact, that she hadn't noticed her world fading away; and continued to stare blankly ahead of her even after she felt the soft tufts of grass under her palms.

"Why Alice, you look a bit under the weather, is there something the matter?" Cheshire's voice suddenly sounded next to her ear, and when she looked she could see his luminous green eyes laughing at her, "See a ghost, perhaps?"

"Wha' th' bloody 'ell did ye tink ye wuz doin' ye schemin' beast?" Tarrant's voice shouted, and Alice looked to it's direction, watching as the infuriated hatter stood himself up, his arm bleeding and more then half of his jacket filthy from blood and dirt.

"Saving us all, unless you'd prefer to 'go down with the ship', as they say?" the purple cat purred, settling himself onto a tree branch, "I'd say were a few miles off base, though; you'll have to forgive me, I did say I was due for a break."

Shaking her head Alice looked around herself, noticing the strange blue and pink stripped trees, "Where are we?" Alice asked, standing and walking towards one of the trunks, "It's very pretty, but I've never seen anything like them before!"

"We're somewhere in the Outlands." Tarrant answered, followed closely by Cheshire somewhat sarcastic sound of congratulatory comment. He ignored the cat and she felt him come up beside her, grasping her hand before it could touch the tree, "Don't touch anything, not even those living here really understands the area."

"Oh I don't know, hatty, I feel perfectly at home." the grinning cat informed, "Though, since I was born here, I suppose that it's hardly any comfort to you."

To Alice it made about as much sense as anything else that she knew of Underland, and while the plant life was curious, she listened to Tarrant and refrained from getting to close to it. Looking around for their bags she wasn't to surprised when she didn't see either the food bag or tool bag; "Tarrant, did you get the sword, by any chance?"

Tarrant, though, shook his head, "We were already here before I knew what was going on; I supposed we were evaporated, then, Chess?" he questioned. When the cat answered the affirmative he nodded, "Thanks for that."

"If you could really evaporate people, why didn't you just come get me instead of all of this mess?" Alice asked crossly, brushing some dirt from her skirt. She was tired of turning around every few hours and being attacked and the discovery that they had nothing to protect themselves with now but the remaining few pins in the hatters canister didn't make her feel any better.

"I'll have you know it's a difficult thing to do." Cheshire stated without sounded offended, "Not impossible, but difficult, and if you'll remember, you're not the only one in Underland that needed help. You are, however, one of the few that got it."

"He's been recruiting, Alice." Tarrant broke in, "While your rescue was one of the first on our minds, we couldn't focus on it completely; I was in charge of your escape." she didn't have to think about it for long until she realized how selfish she'd sounded.

She felt a blush rising to her cheeks and willed it to leave her face as she murmured her agreement, "It's not that I'm not grateful, it's just that this is just so confusing." Shaking her head she released a sigh, "It was just a short time ago that the most I had to worry about was turning down a marriage proposal, after all."

"It's alright to be confused when everything around you is confusing." Tarrant told her firmly, offering his unwounded arm for her to take, "For what it's worth, everyone in Underland is a bit-"

"If not totally." Cheshire broke in.

"-confused." Tarrant snapped, glaring at his friend for interrupting him. "Anyhow, as lovely as this forest is, I suppose we should start by figuring out where we are; Ches, can you float up any higher?"

Cheshire groaned, actually groaned, at the thought of floating, "Only because a bed sounds more comfortable then a tree." he conceded, pushing himself away from the tree before slowly drifting over the tree tops. It only took a moment, but by the time he'd come back down he even looked as exhausted as what he must have felt.

"We need to be heading north," his tail flicked in the direction, "but, sadly, it doesn't look like I'll be laying on any bed tonight."

Alice held out her arms, "Here, Chess, I'll carry you for a bit, will that make you feel any better?" she asked, and when he'd tiredly flown into her arms she heard a muffled 'thank you'. He was heavy, but not terribly so; in fact the weight was rather reassuring; if she could have, she would have wanted to pet him.

* * *

When the sun began to rise Tarrant ushered his two companions deeper into the woods and found a large patch of grass for them to bed down on that wouldn't get unreasonably bright as the day wore on. After a wakeful night making Alice's clothes, then another filled with fighting and fleeing, he found himself bothered with black spots dancing in his vision and a slight case of paranoia (was it still called paranoia when you knew people were after you?). Going any further without rest wouldn't be mad, it would be flat out daft.

Not to mention that the past few hours he'd been wanting noting more but to rip Cheshire from out of his cozy little make-shift bed and fling him into the nearest tree. He hadn't missed the grin he'd gotten before the feline had fallen asleep within Alice's warm arms; nor had he not heard the slight purr as the mangy animal slept.

Flopping down onto the ground he sighed and closed his eyes for some much needed and much deserved sleep. The day had been horrendous, and the worse thing of all things (besides, perhaps, Alice's death) had happened; his wonderful hat, the best in all of Underland, had been snatched from his head.

He heard a rustling sound and his eyes snapped open to look towards it, but it was only Alice placing Cheshire onto the ground. She settled herself between him and what looked to be a purple ball of striped fur. When she noticed his gaze on her she smiled a bit, "Don't worry, I'll keep watch."

* * *

She'd said it, but Alice didn't really know what she would do if anything happened, the only weapon she had on her was the small dagger Iracebeth had given her... Her eyes brightened suddenly and she reached under her skirt, eyes darting to both males to assure herself they were asleep (not wanting to be caught reaching under her own skirt), and pulled out the two small brown cotton bags.

Lifting the flap of one she shook it upside down, tilting her her head when nothing came out and shaking harder. She knew there was something in it, she could feel it from outside the bag, however no matter how hard she shook it nothing would fall out. Biting back the frustrated sigh she put it down and did the same thing to the second one, almost relieved when a long thin chain fell into her lap.

Fingering the chain between her fingers she smiled at the feeling, resembling water more then metal; but as nice as it was, it looked by no means helpful in the least. Putting it back into the bag she set it to the side and tried the first one again, this time reaching her fingers into the folds, frowning when her fingers brushed the tip of whatever object that was within. Looking at the bag she felt the little hidden... thing... in the middle. Why, then, was she only able to feel the tip?

Growing frustrated she studied the bag a bit more, it was an impossible thing, to be sure, and it only made her want it all the more. Whatever bottle (she assumed) that was inside was obviously something larger then what it appeared to be within the seemingly small bag; but she couldn't fathom how to open the thing to save her life.

How curious.

* * *

Authors Note: I'm okay with this chapter, wasn't as astounding as I wanted it to be, mainly because, when I looked over my notes, I realized I'd accidentally placed poor Chess in two different places at once! Sooo... Yeah, big annoyance there that had to be sorted and 100% my fault (not that it could have been anyone's fault but mine, however it makes me feel better, saying it out loud). My most favorite thing right now about this story isn't anything that I've written, so much as the fact that it's had nearly two-hundred hits! Makes me wanna go 'squee!' all over the place, so many thanks to all my readers, I appreciate you all!

… I just love my reviewers more. I appreciate their kind words, interest in my story, and all of their questions; just really love the questions, guys! Thank you all so very much for the attention, I love it! :3

Oh, and to a request, a one-shot was written and posted to explain why Iracebeth lied; it does not, however, explain what Mirana's plans are. It also gives a clue at just how long Mirana had planed to take over with an iron fist (bet you're really wanting to know why, now, huh?). As I've said before, it will be revealed here and there a bit at a time. It's titled "The Bloody Red Queen", not a 'must read to continue on' or anything, just a quick insight is all.

NOTE: Wow, my hit counter went from 157 to 283 in less then twenty-four hours; seriously wasn't expecting that! O_o Thanks again, everyone!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: All characters were adapted by Tim Burton from Lewis Carroll's work of fiction "Alice in Wonderland".

Be Aware: Don't assume to know until you know to assume.

* * *

Silly Girl

* * *

When Tarrant awoke it was still daylight and a quick peek at his pocket watch informed him that it was hardly six in the evening. Cheshire was still curled up a short distance away and Alice was glaring at a miniature burlap sack as though she thought it conspiring against her. Which it might have been, Tarrant had plenty of experiences with his things plotting behind his back as well, usually his socks; but that was neither here nor there.

Reaching for his hat, but coming up empty handed, his first thought was that a furry purple thief had spirited it away while he slept. As he sat, frowning at the beast, he slowly began remembering the previous night and groaned (something he very rarely ever did). It was the second time in a month that he'd lost the precious hat, the first time had been near to unbelievable, now he was slightly afraid that it would become a habit. He wondered what his chances would be, if he asked Chessur to fetch it; the cat liked the hat almost as much as himself, so he thought that it was worth a try.

His eyes flickering back to Alice, he watched her animatedly shake the bag; sighing in frustration when whatever the reaction she'd wanted to get failed to arise. Even though he knew he shouldn't he giggled, and when she looked up at him wide eyed, he did it again, "Having troubles, Alice?" he asked innocently.

She gave a rather reluctant and somewhat forced nod, "The kitchen staff at the palace gave me this before we escaped, but I haven't a clue as to how to get whatever it is inside of the bag out! Whatever it is looks small when you look at it like this," she held the bag out for him, "but when you put your fingers in, you can hardly touch it, and it seems much larger then it actually is."

Tarrant understood immediately and brightened when he found he could solve her problem rather easily, "I believe it's a tot-all, very handy things when one can be fortunate enough to come across one." standing up he walked closer to her, relieving her of the bag to inspect it; "I've not seen one this size before, though; it will be rather difficult to get it out, I wonder how they got whatever it is inside." tilting his head he reached in with his own fingers, the tips brushing what seemed to be a cork.

"Wine, perhaps, though I could hardly think of why they would give you wine... Some tea would be nice, but that's beside the point." Taking his fingers back out he tapped his cheek, then shrugged, "Well perhaps Chessur can figure a way to evaporate and bring whatever it is out? We'll give that a try after he fetches my hat."

Alice's eyes widened and immediately zeroed onto his head, "How could I not have noticed? Do you know where you left it, by any chance?" she asked worriedly, and it made the hatter feel better that she was worried enough to ask in a worried tone.

"Of course, one should never misplace a hat if one can help it after all." He stated, giving her a large smile, "I have no fear that Chessur can find it, he's rather good at sniffing around and finding it." the explanation seemed to fail in reassuring her, but it would have to do until his hat returned.

"You shouldn't just assume I'll do something without asking me." A know-it-all voice said in a bored tone, and Tarrant looked in time to watch the cat begin floating from the ground, "Not that I would, but it is nice to be asked every once in a while."

"Will you get Tarrant's hat, Chess?" Alice asked for him, and for that Tarrant was thankful; he rather disliked having to owe a cat (or, more importantly, a Cheshire cat by the name of Chessur); heaven knew what he would want in return. Trust Alice to help him with the task without hesitation, such a cleaver girl...

Mentally he cursed, Alice wasn't supposed to help him, he was supposed to help Alice; that was what the past twelve hours had been about! Turning to the cat to ask himself, he discovered the loathsome creature to have already gone (probably because he realized the same the hatter had, and had taken advantage of the fact he would feel guilty for it). Releasing a few mutterings about even he wasn't quite sure, he turned his attention back to Alice, who had produced another bag, holding it out for him to inspect.

"Another tote-all, Alice you lucky girl!" He grinned happily, opening the bag to inspect the contents; however he'd managed to shove the small bag from out of his hand after stuffing his fingers in to quickly.

Alice picked the bag up for him with a giggle of her own, "No, I don't think so, it's just a regular bag, but it has a very long chain in it." tipping the bag out into his palm she tilted her head to one side, "It's a rather pretty chain, and it does feel splendid, but I haven't a clue as to why we would need it."

To be truthful, Tarrant wasn't sure in the beginning, either. It was, indeed, long, and he would have thought to make it a whip of some type; but it appeared to be more then a bit fragile. Testing his thought he gave a weak tug, then another a bit harder; after a few moments (and a pair of his best scissors, he wasn't very pleased at that) he'd figured it out.

"This is a hagios analegö, a very useful weapon otherwise known as an unbreakable chain." Tarrant thought out loud, "I believe it's supposed to be made of some type of metal you get when compressing water. Very durable, hence the name, I wouldn't know myself, tough, never having tried to break one."

When Tarrant handed the chain back to her she gave it a few tugs herself, "I didn't know water could be compressed." she wondered, "Though if any place could compress water, I suppose it would be Underland." she smiled at the thought, pleased that she hadn't really felt the impossibility of compressing water.

Placing the chain back into the bag she then handed it (along with the tote-all) to Tarrant for storage in one of his pockets. Thankfully, he hadn't asked about where she'd stored them, and she wasn't planning on volunteering the information, either. The idea alone that something that had been pressed against her belly was now securely inside on of the inner pockets of the hatters jacket was a bit unnerving; she didn't want to know what it would feel like if he knew the same bit of information.

Shortly after that Chessur returned with a quiet 'poof', the hat resting safely upon his head; and he rewarded himself a bit by playing a small game of 'keep away' from Tarrant. Alice thought it was rather amusing, watching the cat float just outside of Tarrant's reach; however the poor hatter seemed to be growing beside himself, trying to keep his temper under control, so she put the game to rest.

After that, it was more walking, and at first it was filled with (in Alice's opinion) largely amusing conversations. Tarrant told more random riddles without answers, and she soon discovered it didn't matter how hard she tried to answer them, nothing she said would be right. She had a feeling that if she ever wanted to give the right answer, it would have to have nothing to do with the riddle and lean towards slightly ridiculous.

Soon, Alice had begun telling them of her world; and while most of it seemed impossibly boring (of which she agreed heartily), there were some things that had actually piqued their interests. Admittedly, she'd made mention of the various tea selections made available by import to gain Tarrant's interest. Though it was difficult describing the tea flavors without confusing him; as he hadn't a clue of most of the spices she listed.

Chessur remained as he always did, managing to somehow appear to be both interested and disinterested at the same time; she found herself envying that quality a bit, but kept it to herself. It was abundantly clear that cats, wither from Otherland or Underland, had the same attitude no matter which land they found themselves living in. Slightly selfish and independent creatures, Alice really didn't know why she fancied them so much.

* * *

Hours later, or to be more precise, eight hours later, found the exhausted group coming upon what looked to be a large hill but had turned out to be an average sized house. The short series of knocks that Chessur gave was answered quickly by a muffled voice, "Wotizit?" the voice demanded harshly, "This 'ere's a private residence, sa you bes' just to keep it moving."

"Awa wivza blasold qwen!" Hatter growled low in his throat, giving the door another thump before it opened and out stepped Mallymkun, looking haggard and tired; though she repeated the phrase sturdily, her tiny feet planting themselves against the grounds while with her arms akimbo.

Alice hurriedly knelt down to get a better look at the dormouse, carefully examining the creature despite the hard glare her actions earned her, "You're not hurt then?"

"O'course I'm not hurt! Nothing that witch could do can hurt me! I was more worried 'bout you!" Alice grinned at that, and when Mallymkun led them inside of the house she quickly found herself swamped with many new faces introducing themselves to her before she could hope to even ask about the whereabouts of Thackery. Though it admittedly wasn't long before she knew he was, indeed, there; the perfectly pitched teapot beaming one of the Underlarian's in the head.

Not sure if she should help the poor man or give Thackery a quick (but distanced) once over she hesitated a moment; until the man stood up with a good natured chuckle. Happily going towards Thackery she stopped, giving herself enough room to dodge with, and eyed his appearance. Surprisingly (or was that unsurprisingly), nothing seemed different with him; then again, she'd never once, in her memory, seen him looking anything but jittery and ragged. At first, she admitted, she'd found it frightening; now she could only think of the endearing hare as quirky; and it was a feature that (in her opinion) much suited his chaotic and clumsy madness.

Sighing in relief she turned back to Tarrant and smiled brightly, the elation of seeing the two calming her placing her into a mood she hadn't felt in a long time. Surrounding her were people who held no other intent but to check on her own well being, while it wasn't an entirely new feeling for her, it was a bit of a pleasant shock to know there were more then a hand full of people concerned for her. It was even more amazing to know that they not only supported the cause, but were willing to risk the danger to liberate themselves.

It wasn't long after that Alice discovered the house was much larger then it first appeared, going two more stories below ground where most of the families housed. The front room, while spacious, was near impossibly crowded and forced the majority of occupants to stand during the 'meetings' as Chessur and a few other's with evaporating and speaking abilities reported the daily occurrences of other rebel bases and the palace.

* * *

Alice found herself standing beside Tarrant as they listened to a Aiolus, a rather large light blue fox, as he spoke of a town that he'd been in charge of recruiting, and a large cheer came shortly after he confirmed they had accepted. Tarrant quickly told him to return to the town and give them the order to remain quite and not bring attention to themselves, and once the blue smoke disappeared after Aiolus vanished cleared Chessur took his place.

"I'm afraid I've bad news from the eastern parts." Chessur started with a thoughtful expression, "Seems that, while they don't fancy Mirana's ruling, they aren't particularly motivated to do anything about it. Of course, this could be because Mirana's soldiers hasn't given them to much trouble, beyond the occasional thefts and abuse. I'll keep meeting with the leader in hopes that he'll change his mind before the soldiers change theirs as well."

Pausing for a minute, he flicked his tail; "The small village next to them, by the way, is actually pro-Mirana. I have no idea why this is, but they were incredibly rude, and very nearly gave me... a rather close shave?"

"What's a shave got to do with anything?" A young voice questioned, and there was a veritable shift in the audience as people attempted to locate the voice. A few seconds later a sharp reprimand sounded before several children's voices began complaining.

Tarrant leaned down to Alice's ear, "Try as we might, some of the children here are just to smart for us; last time they'd drilled a hole into the ceiling from the room above us to listen in. Mally phrased their plan, and, if I remember correctly, told them better ways of listening in."

"All I said to 'em wuz it's easier ta hide ina crowd then ta crowd themselves inta a room an make all that noise." Mallymkun defended herself, a hand on the hilt of her 'sword' as she stood on Tarrant's shoulder; "They wuz making sucha racket we could hardly 'ere ourselves think, after all."

"Very true, and I don't believe Mr. Volder much appreciated the damage to his precious floor; seems to have put it in himself." he stopped after a hard look from Chessur, then listened into the rest of the report. Apparently there was also another village the cat had made contact with that didn't know which side to support.

"Truthfully, I believe they're waiting for the highest bidder," Chessur flicked his paw, "I recommend bribing them, if that's what it takes. They've plenty of young men and women more then capable of taking a strong stand against the black queen; and to be honest, right now we don't stand a chance."

"Why should we bribe them to defend themselves?" An old man's voice complained, and when he stood up Alice could see his voice was actually much elderly sounding then his body. His dark brown and leathery skin almost screamed of vitality, "We shouldn't have to pay others to defend against their own tyrant! If they have the ability then that makes it their responsibility!" some of the crowd made their agreement loudly known.

"If the black souled queen gets them, then what will we do?" Another voice argued, "The last thing we need is for her army to get any bigger then it is! She already has Iracebeth's cards on her side, that double's her defenses as it is!"

"Yes, but she hasn't got the Alice anymore, has she?" A woman's voice hollered, "She's almost no chance of winning with Alice on our side, and what chance she does have crumbles even more with each person that joins us!"

Alice blushed as people agreed and disagreed more, arguing this way and that until the noise was near to unbearable. Tarrant sighed at her side and whens he looked at him, he was rubbing the bridge of his nose, a strange expression on his face, making him look torn between throtteling the lot of them, or laughing uncontrolably.

The sudden explosion of a book shelf suddenly ended the overly loud debate as people scurried and took cover. "You're all giving me a headache, you know that?" Mallymkun's voice snapped out, and Alice made sure to remember not to get on the mouse's actual bad side, "We're not 'ere to fight against eachother, we're 'ere to fight against the black-souled-witch! This bickerin' will be stopping now, or you'll all find me endin' it for you!"

* * *

Tarrant was leading Alice to the room that Mally, Thackery, Chessur, and himself would be sharing with her, apologizing for not being able to provide her a private room. To be honest, he'd been tempted to just throw one of the families into the front room to sleep, but Mr. Volder had quickly ended that thought by pointing out that it was already hard enough to trip over everyone in the morning as it was. The last thing anyone needed or wanted was to trip over either sleeping bodies or the bed palates they slept upon.

Opening the door he allowed her in first, "This is where we'll room; of course not by ourselves, no, no; Mally's spot is over there," he pointed to the dresser where a small powder canister had been morphed into a tiny bed, "Thackery's taken that corner, is a mite possessive of it, too; try not to go near it, even if he asks you to." Thackery's 'bed' seemed to actually be a large collection of blankets piled onto each other.

Pointing to the other side of the room he pointed to a finely made bed, "That's to be your bed, seems Thackery was already up here and making it, good fellow that he is." he watched Alice walk forward to sit on the bed, a small smile on her lips as she bounced on it a few times. She seemed pleased with having one, and he couldn't blame her, he doubted a cage, floor cart, or even the forest floor compared to it.

"And that," he pointed, diverting her attention from her bed to where his finger was pointing, "is to be where I'll be sleeping from now on." Truthfully, when he looked upon it, he knew he would prefer the bed he used at the palace; it was both longer and wider. On the bright side, Alice wouldn't be but three feet (at most) away from him during the night, and on the even brighter sight, he would be one of the last person she saw before she fell asleep; and on the brightest side of that, she would be one of the first people that he saw when he woke.

"So you'll be here when I wake up?" Alice asked, breaking him from his thoughts abruptly, and when he nodded she gave another small smile along with a nod of understanding, "Oh, good-" cutting herself off she gave a nervous titter of a giggle, "Because, you know, in case I'm confused about anything..."

"Oh, I'm afraid I know almost as little as you; I've really only been here once before, when Mirana first showed her true colors. I went back to the castle immediately after that to prepare for your escape and kept contact with everyone through Chessur." she nodded in understanding again at his explanation and looked around the room once more.

"The closet has some dresses to wear, all created by me, of course, and some of the other women have donated some shoes for you to wear as well. I'm afraid we haven't much to our disposal right now, so it might be a while before we can get you anything else." Tarrant told her, walking towards the closet and withdrawing a green nightgown to wear, as well as a pair of white cotton slippers and handing them to her.

Standing up and accepting them, he gestured for her to follow and lead her out of the room to the lavatory, staying outside while she dressed and speaking through the door, "We've only two lavatories, I'm afraid; I believe there's someone in charge of the morning and evening schedule, tomorrow I believe we'll have a different time with them." when the door opened he stepped back, smiling when Alice stood before him, her dirty gown held in the crook of her arm.

Going back to the room they found Mally already dressed and having an argument with Thackery's mound of blankets. When Thackery's head popped out of one of the sides to comment back Alice jumped, then began laughing, "I was wondering why his 'bed' looked like that!" she snickered.

"He won't lissen!" Mally snapped, and Alice quickly covered her mouth as Tarrant's eyebrow's lifted in curiousity, "He done took someone else's blanket, again! Won't give it back either, he won't, not until the poor person comes ta get it!"

"It's actually my blanket." Chessur's voice informed everyone, appearing inside the room within a puff of smoke, "It's something I've actually been forward to, as a matter of fact, so I'll be wanting that back." when Thackery's head sunk back within the blankets, causing the mound to shift about, another argument was on.

Alice's contented sigh shifted Tarrant's attention, and when he looked over at her he seen her walking towards her bed, curling onto the mattress to watch the beginnings of the tug-of-war from the corner of the room. With a grin, he quickly went to the closet and withdrew a pair of cotton pajama's from his side and went to get changed.

If she didn't have a problem spending her first night at the base watching the antic's of their best friends, then he certainly wasn't going to, either.

* * *

Authors Note: … I've murdered Mally's accent! I can't believe it, I knew I should have just caved and bought the DVD instead of going by memory after so long. I can only hear vague echo's of it and I've forgotten how her r's and a's sound! Ugh! The British accent inside my head obviously needs worked on; maybe if I watch St. Tristan's I can get a better feel for it? Blah!

_hagios_ (Greek) – Holy; _analegö _(Greek) – support: The inspiration for this was taken from the '_Unbreakable Chain_' from **Star Dust**, hence the description; only one person managed to figure this out, gratz to **_katzsoa _**for that! I put a bit of 'Underland' into it, then searched for a good name (and since the ancient Greeks always had good names for things) went though some good Greek words. Remember this, kiddo's; in the English language many of our words are adaptations of Greek words; moreso in the Scientific language. So remember this, if you're looking for a weapon name: 'When in doubt, go Greek'; it'll usually sound awesome and will get the point across easily.


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Rant**: Let me get something off my chest real quick that some writers are doing that has been annoying the utter and complete hell out of me... Alice Kinsleigh and Alice Liddell are two entirely different people! I'm not even sure why they seem to think otherwise (for crying out loud, Carroll even stated that they weren't the same people, Alice Kinsleigh is a fabricated character!), maybe it's because they share the first name? Hell, they don't even have the same appearance, take a look at them, it's rather obvious, isn't it? If you want to use it as a story, that's fine, hell, I commend you for the ingenuity, but don't sit there and sound like a pompous illiterate and uninformed jackass while you argue others down! I won't mention names, but if you're the one who was arguing with your reader and you're reading this right now... KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF! Not only have you probably lost what was an actual knowledgeable fan that only stated the truth in a NICE way in order to help you grow, but you ticked others off while you did so, as well! I know I won't be going back to read anymore of your frivolous and ill-thought-out plot. I was going to leave a thoughtful review, too, and give points on how I felt you might improve your work, you jerk! You've no idea how insulted and disgusted you made me feel, if you're lucky, this rant will prevent me from PM'ing you, personally, to give you a piece of my mind.

In essence: She was trying to help you, you bloody inconsiderate prick! Don't do the work if you don't want someone to critique it. Without critiques then you can't possibly hope to get any better, could you? Ugh! Don't scream at people when they're offering you a glass of iced water in your hell of stupidity, _thank them kindly_ and _move on_! You don't even have to listen to them, for crying out loud!

… Sorry, but I really needed to get that off my chest... Don't argue/debate stupidly, people, get the facts and rely on them instead of just rumors and hearsay; didn't your teachers actually teach you anything? Rawr an' junk! Apologies for the length of this rant, it's just that it was so unbelievably inconsiderate and insulting I just couldn't do anything but stew over it for days until it got like this.

Oh, and before I forget... DON'T FLAME REVIEWERS! (I remember a time when a reviewer PM'd me and said they were having a bad day and seriously re-considered leaving critique's because of something like this) Just because they give an honest and well thought out opinion, don't immediately take offense; feel free to flame the flamers, but leave the one's actually trying to help you out of it... Okay, I'm done. Those thoughts have been bugging the ever loving hell out of me and I really needed to write them down before I did something regrettable, like PM the jerks personally to chew their heads off. I couldn't even begin to think about flaming my wonderful reviewers, just want to cuddle the lot of them like plush dollies. Hahaha!

Disclaimer: The above rant is my personal opinion, in no way am I saying anyone connected to me in anyway share the same opinion (though many probably do... again, my opinion). The rant was directed solely to those who have flamed a review over their own ignorance, nobody else. _The written fiction was originally created by Lewis Carroll and the adaptation that I've chosen to use is from Tim Burton_, the plot is all mine though... It's juicy, like a well cooked stake... Yum.

Be Aware: It's better to hold your silence and appear to be stupid, rather then to open your mouth and prove it! … Oh, and: Don't assume to know until you know to assume.

* * *

Silly Girl

* * *

Alice was awake, dressed, fed, and speaking before a large crowd of people before she'd even managed to realize she was no longer asleep. Tarrant was standing only half a step behind her as Thackery and Mallymkun stood at his side, none of the three appearing the be any more awake then she felt herself. The rebel group seemed to listen intently, and she felt terrible for not being able to gather more information then she had; though admittedly she hadn't been aware that she'd been doing any information gathering at all during her captivity.

However, what she did have, she freely gave; telling of the daily matters of the black queens court and the overly harsh punishments over insignificant and (more often then not, she felt) fabricated matters. None of it was all that important to anyone, she though, and only served as fuel for the hatred already burning in the rebel's hearts.

However, it was when they began asking questions, that she realized she had more information then she knew; "The queen always went to bed about fifteen minutes before I was sent to my cage, which was usually by eleven." she stated, after having been asked, "She'd generally take three of the guards with her and have the kitchen staff bring up a light snack and some tea."

"What about the guards, do you know where she'd post them?" a man, who's name was Stu, if she remembered correctly, asked urgently. He was missing a hand, and the stub was wrapped with clean dressing, leading Alice to believe it was a recent injury (perhaps even punishment) he'd gotten before he'd arrived at the base a week before she had.

Shaking her head she answered the negative, "I wasn't permitted inside Mirana's rooms during the day or night; the only thing I do know is that she changes her sleeping arrangements ever few days or so." she answered, then thought again, "However, if I remember correctly, I do think I over heard a guard complaining that he disliked his post because she disliked sleeping with the windows open; apparently he didn't like enclosed spaces."

"Do you know what time she wakes?" Stu asked again, leaning forward as the people around him nodded earnestly.

"She doesn't have a set time to wake up, though by ten she's always in the throne room." Alice said, frowning slightly, "Though there was this one time when she was rather late and wasn't on her throne until shortly after one, I think that was two weeks after she started her rule. " The crowd laughed nearly hysterically, "Did I miss something?"

"The children, actually, had sent her a present, once." A woman chuckled in answer, "We punished them for it, of course, but we didn't know it would cause such a stir... We'll have to give them as much cake as they want after we're done here."

Tilting her head she looked behind her back at Tarrant, who appeared to be nearly as lost as she was herself. Clearing her thought she decided to sate her curiosity, "What did the children do to warrant Mirana's tardiness?"

"They loaded a large cart up wit wood an set it on fire, then sent it down th; hill to th' armory." Theodore, a young man hardly the same age as Alice, answered; "Was caught by me mum runnin' back ta our camp; had ta move in a 'urry ta prevent from bein' found, we did! Mum tore up their backside's after we came across Chessur an' got us settled 'ere."

Tarrant's sudden burst of laughter was quickly followed by one of her own, "Well, if worse comes to worse, apparently the children have more then enough plans and inspiration to create havoc." Alice joked, and Tarrant quickly agreed, causing another hoot of laughter to come from the large group and Alice felt a large smile taking place as her giggles slowly ceased.

After a few more questions Tarrant took her place and began reporting what he had found out himself, which, Alice was surprised to realize, was a sight larger then what she had found out. Mirana had more then seven hundred trained elite soldiers, not including her personal guard (which consisted of nearly fifty men) and the lower ranking soldiers (most of which were rumored to be forced into service, he didn't know their numbers).

He seconded Mirana's need to change rooms every few days, but added on that she slept no lower then the third level and never any higher then the fifth of the seven floored castle. On top of that, though she took three guards into her room with her, there was always two stationed outside of her sleeping chambers at night that allowed no visitors to enter the room.

However, directly after he said this, he reported that even though no one entered though the door, there was sometimes men leaving. "If I'm right, that means that she's choosing rooms that have secret entrances, which is probably the reason to have three guards with her inside her rooms at night. That might also mean that she's not choosing the rooms she stays in randomly, but with the secret entrances in mind."

"If we can some how get to know where these rooms are then we've got a way to enter the castle; if anybody wants to volunteer to be posted at the palace we would appreciate it; but we're not going to force anyone." He paused, "This position would place the volunteer at a high risk, so if you want to take this role on, you have to ask yourself how much you would be able to take before you talk if you are caught."

"It's not a matter of holding your tongue forever," Mallymkun suddenly put in, jumping from Thackery's head to Tarrant's open palm, "Nobody expects a torture victim to keep silent forever, but you will be expected to give the base enough time to evacuate. We will try to rescue anyone captured, but it'll have to be after everyone else is safe."

* * *

After the morning meeting everyone separated and began work; the women sent the children to forage though the forest for berries, fruits, and vegetables while the younger women took to cleaning and minor repairs. The men began working outside, and Alice soon discovered they were building more housing units up in the trees, using tree bark and moss to camouflage the structures from prying eyes.

A small group of older men and women were sitting around a large table, papers and quills before them; and Alice soon discovered them to be blueprints for both the tree-houses and some odd looking contraptions. Not wanting to interrupt Alice went to help the other women in their daily tasks, only to be dragged away from that by Mallymkun.

"Chess is fixing to leave to check up on the village the Tweedles are in charge of;" She informed her when Alice had placed the small mouse onto her shoulder, scrunching her nose, "Though why they're in charge of anything I'll never know, two of the dullest-witted boy's anyone's ever known, I'd wager!" Alice had to agree; even if she found them to be amusing and pleasant enough, they weren't exactly known for their intelligence.

When they reached the laughing cat Alice smiled; the creature was once again bothering Tarrant by taking his time in saying goodbye lovingly to the hatter's precious hat. It took a moment to divert the creatures attention towards herself, but when she did she was rewarded by the large, somewhat relieved smile, from Tarrant.

"Well, I'm off to see how Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dumber are fairing; though I already know they'd have either turned the poor town into slobbering nit-wits or confused the lot of them into forgetting even their own names." Chessur quipped.

"The boys are perfect for the job, they were born there, after all." Tarrant defended, though looked to be somewhat bothered, "I'm sure they'll have made some progress, after all, it's been nearly a fortnight since they arrived." Alice watched with a small chuckle as the mad man gave his shirt cuffs a quick tug, before patting his shoulder in comfort and offering a quick reassurance.

"Even if they haven't, then at least they should have gotten the point across that there are people ready to fight against the black-souled queen." Mallymkun insisted, at which Alice and Tarrant quickly agreed; "But if they haven't, then they'll be hearing from me!" the mouse snapped out, giving Chessur a hard glare, "And you can tell 'em I told you that!"

"Oh, I will." The cat agreed, already disappearing in his signature way, his eyes and mouth straying behind, "Then I'll wait to say hello until we meet again."

"Can't he just say goodbye like a normal person?" Mallymkun grumbled, jumping from Alice's shoulder to Tarrant's easily; a stern frown on her face as she glared at the spot the cat had disappeared from. "Always with a stupid remark or comment, dunno why we put up with him."

"Because he's a good friend who helps us when we need him to." Alice answered with a grin of her own before they turned around, "Imagine all the trouble we would find ourselves in without him."

"Just think of all the trouble we find ourselves in because of him!" Mallymkun snorted, "Blasted cat, always mucking about doing hardly anything while making it sound like he's been doing more then anyone!" Even as she said this, a look of worry took over the dark look the dormouse.

"He'll be fine, Mally." Alice offered comfortingly.

"'Course he'll be fine, if trouble happens he'll just evaporate away like he always does, won't he?" she snapped, though appeared to be somewhat calmed from the other woman's words. "Not like I'd worry for him, the ruddy cat's got more lives in him then even other Cheshire cat's can claim; an' he hadn't used a single one, yet!"

* * *

The evening meal had somehow managed to become yet another meeting, and the relaxation Alice had managed to attain since her arrival had obviously left her, even if Tarrant hadn't had the opportunity to get to know her, it would have been apparent. He couldn't blame her, the meetings almost seemed never ending; and the hard work between meetings were nearly always interrupted by conferences from either recruiters or town spies evaporating in to give information.

He couldn't blame her for her stressed appearance, the last few reports hadn't been his cup of tea, either; and he was surprised there were so few other towns that expressed any desire to defend themselves and their right to live in peace. Though he disliked the idea, he would have to travel to the towns personally to establish more allies, and bringing the petite blonde with him would give him an edge in gaining the people's attention.

The downside to his thoughts were that not only did he have very poor evaporating skills (he doubted being able to make the tips of his nails vanish would offer any help whatsoever), but Alice had absolutely none. They would have to travel around in the open in disguise so that the guards and the black queen's spies wouldn't realize who they were (another difficulty, as he knew of no one else with either of their colorings).

What he really, however, was dragging Alice around and placing her into more dangerous situations. He'd already promised himself to keep her safe until he was able to find a way to return her home, but the rebellion needed as many people as it could get. Should the people be able to visibly see Alice taking an active role within their ranks it might aid their decisions on joining.

Frowning down at his plate he thought harder; it wasn't impossible for him to make a couple of wigs for them to wear. If he changed his clothes and outer appearance as much as possible then he probably wouldn't even have to disguise his hat. The very thought of leaving it behind caused a viable shudder to take over his hands for a moment, causing Alice's eyes to fill with worry.

"Is everything alright, Tarrant?" She asked softly as the people around them continued whatever topic they'd been discussion, placing a hand on his arm, "Is it the tea? Thackery was complaining about it earlier, though I'm not to sure what he was saying..."

"No, no, I'm fine." Tarrant quickly shook his head, offering the woman a large smile, but when she smiled back, one fine eyebrow arched in query, he relented; "Well, I was thinking about the trouble we've been having getting more people to join our cause."

When Alice nodded he continued, "Suppose you and I go about rounding them up?" he asked, "I'm sure it will be difficult, however if we're both there together we might be able to bring them around." Tapping her fingers agitatedly against the table he considered her thoughtful face; "Of course, you don't have to, and if you feel it safer to stay here then you're more then welcome. Would hate for you to feel pressured into this after having gone though so much for Underland's sake, anyhow. I'm sure one of the tree-houses will be ready soon, I don't think anyone would mind allowing you to have one for yourself."

"In that case, I'll be going, too!" Mallymkun's voice interrupted the private conversation and drew both his and Alice's eyes to her as she stood before Tarrant's plate, "Can't have you two running about on your own, neither of you are much good at anything by yourselves." the decision made (at least in Mallymkun's eyes: which basically meant the decision was made period) the small dormouse gave it the announcement she thought it deserved.

"'Atter, Alice, an' I are going to get more people soon; you all better mind yourselves and stay out of thought and sight till we return." wagging her finger in warning she turned to Alice, "We best get ready, best not to put this off for to long, otherwise we're giving Mirana time to step in and get them before we do."

* * *

Three days later the trio left, Thackery giving his blessing by a well aimed wooden stirring spoon connecting wondrously against Tarrant's hat, and the brief argument was ended almost before it had even begun. Alice found her 'disguise' rather comfortable save for the binding that the women had painstakingly wrapped about her chest to cover the fact that Alice was actually a woman. Her long blonde hair had been braided about her head so that the wig (that was only slightly longer then Tarrant's own red hair and a great deal more dark blue) could be pinned into place to prevent slipping.

Mallymkun, for her part, took her mortification without batting an eye (though she had pricked and slashed); and the soft purple dress was utterly adorable on her. Alice found herself trying not to compliment the poor creature, though, when a matching bow was brought out and tied around one of her ears. "It's for the cause." Alice tried comforting, only receiving a steady look in return that almost screamed, 'Another word and you'll be missing a tongue'.

Tarrant had fashioned himself a longish black-haired wig and put himself in rather plain clothes, and though he disliked it, allowed Alice to cover his face with make-up so that his white skin wouldn't show. Someone had brought a pair of sunglasses to cover his oddly colored eyes; and by the time the trio had finished they found themselves staring unabashedly.

As they rode away from the base Tarrant had begun talking about the first town they would try to recruit. Apparently they were willing enough to sell goods to the rebels, however were to frightened to do anything else. "It's a justifiable fear, to be honest; as it is, if they're discovered supplying us with anything it would be considered an act of treason."

"If the Tweedles were worth even a quarter of their weight then they would have already convinced them of the physical support we'd give them." Mally stated waspishly from her spot atop the brim of the hatter's hat, her black eyes frowning with disapproval.

"Come now, Mally, I'm sure the boys are trying their hardest."

* * *

Alice, Tarrant, and Mallymkun stood outside of the newly erected walls around the town in a state of horrified disbelief; dumbly staring at a chubby little severed leg that had been crudely nailed into the finely polished dark wood. The stripped blood stained stocking clung tightly to the appendage as a small piece of black fabric clung to a tiny black shoe, still tied nicely on the nearly-to-small foot.

"That isn't-"

"Oh, lord, I hope not." Alice cut Tarrant off before he could voice what the other two were dreading and repressed the ill sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Mally collapsed on her knees, shaking her head; "It looks to have been torn off." her voice wavered slightly, her hand still weakly pointing to the leg from when she'd first brought notice to it, and when the black fabric fell from the foot she began to shake her head denial.

Tarrant gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut, refusing his eyes to watch the black cloth fall pathetically to the ground. The last report had not mentioned a wall being constructed, nor had it mentioned any of the guards taking it upon themselves to deliver excessive punishment to the people living within the town limits.

"Tarrant?" Alice's voice whispered, a slight tremble betraying her emotion, "We have to go in and find out what's going on. The leg's still bleeding, it couldn't have happened that long ago; so even if... Well... There is a chance to rescue the victim." Opening his eyes he immediately found Alice's gaze and nodded, not daring himself to speak until the sight before them was firmly to their backs.

Gathering what courage he still had, he turned and walked around the dark wall, keeping a fair distance out of both disgust and fear. Try as he might, the knowledge that there had only been ever two people in Underland at that height with that style; two very unique and amusing childish twins. "It isn't-"

"It had better not be." Mallymkun near snapped, her voice dark and powerful despite the slight squeak, her face stretching into a fierce snarl as her eyes glinted with promise.

Feeling Alice's fingers touch the back of his wrist when an iron gate came into view he paused briefly, nodding his head in acceptance of her small form of comfort and taking a deep breath. "First we need to get in unharmed and unnoticed, try not to look to disturbed, don't worry if you show a bit of fear; I believe that's the purpose the leg."

* * *

Alice felt his statement easier said then done, the difficulty of trying to smile at the murderous black armored guards while trying to fight back the furious scream that threatened to rip out of her throat was nearly to much for her to curb. Instead, she steadily stared into the masked face of the loathsome bastard and bared her teeth while Tarrant introduced them as Fredric and Roderick Upton. Already forgetting which one she was to have been she kept her mouth shut and nodded to the two guards as evenly as she could.

"What's your business in Qweston?" Guard one snapped, and Alice could feel his gaze burning into her with wiry curiosity. Knowing he expected her to as she quickly pointed to her mouth and shook her head.

"I'm afraid Fredric isn't capable of speech, poor fellow, lost it when we were children." Tarrant explained, patting her shoulder; "He understands it, though, and can answer yes and no questions quite easily! As for why we're here," he brought out a large map and opened it, revealing the recent additions the real Fredric and Roderick had made. "just a brief pause in our explorations as we update some of the Outerland area's, they just keep changing about, you know."

"You're cartographers, then?" The second guard asked, taking the map and inspecting it, "Have you seen any odd camps out there or anything?"

Her blood froze for a moment, a worried frown crossing her face, "Camps?" Tarrant asked, looking at Alice as though she'd asked the question, "I haven't noticed anything like that, have you, Freddy?" Alice fought the urge to quickly deny any knowledge and frowned a bit more, trying to appear to think harder, answered the negative with a shake of the head, coupling it with a quick shrug.

The guards handed the map back to Tarrant and stepped aside, "Well keep your eyes open and report to the closest town if you do, otherwise you'll be considered tried and sentenced the same as a traitor." chuckling darkly he leaned down as they passed, "Stay out of trouble, or you'll be seeing us again."

Trying to remain unaffected Alice nodded her head in understanding and followed Tarrant, turning quickly into the small marketplace. It was an intriguing little place, with odd signs and even odder shop-keeps, and Alice found herself biting her tongue to keep from asking Tarrant and Mallymkun (who currently hid within one of the hatter's pockets) anything. While she was sure it had (at one time) been a cute little village, it seemed as though one of the towns in the Western novels she sometimes enjoyed reading had spilled from the pages and onto the hard, cracking dirt they walked upon.

"Hard to believe that a short bit ago there was grass here." Tarrant laughed, though she failed to hear any ounce of humor in his voice, "Ah, and there seems to be a shortage of people as well, how odd."

Looking at Tarrant worriedly she spotted a slight orange hue rising into his green eyes and coughed sharply, gaining his attention. "Not to worry, Freddy, we'll stop somewhere to get you a bit of water after we do a bit of sight-seeing."

* * *

Authors Note: Sorry for being late! Due to some REALLY FRIGGEN IRRATATING information I received, I was seriously set back in all of my chapters. This little writer had her credit card stolen, took me a while to even get over it enough to sit down and think about anything else. So... Yeah... Not really all that happy right now.

More suspense in the future, hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am! Promise the next chapter will have 80% less ranting and 80% better; was kind of thrown off a bit; the stuff I had written was terrible enough to have to be re-written. Thank you all for your patience! _My other stories will be updated next week_, swear it!


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